The drones didn't stop.
Every few hours, the mechanical hum returned to the sky above the trees.
Sarah could hear them even through the walls — faint but unmistakable. A constant reminder that Jack was watching everything.
He had mounted one camera high in a pine overlooking the dock.
Another near the back treeline.
Two more are positioned at angles covering approach routes from the ridge.
Inside the cabin, the tablet was rarely left in his hand.
He watched thermal overlays.
Movement alerts.
Battery levels.
He slept lightly, if at all.
Control had narrowed his world down to screens and shadows.
"You see that?" he said one evening, tilting the tablet slightly so Molly could glimpse the display.
She refused to look.
He smirked anyway.
"Your boyfriend better be careful."
Her eyes flashed.
"He's not my boyfriend."
Jack's smile widened.
"Sure, he isn't."
He leaned back in his chair.
"He's mapping. I'd bet money on it. Trying to be the hero."
"He is a hero," Molly shot back.
Sarah closed her eyes briefly.
Wrong direction.
Jack's gaze snapped to Molly.
"Careful."
"You think he won't find you?" Molly continued, voice shaking but defiant. "You think you're smarter than everyone?"
Jack stood slowly.
The chair scraped across the floor.
"He'd better not get too close," Jack said quietly. "I'd hate to have to kill him over trying to keep my woman."
Sarah's stomach turned.
"She's not your woman," Molly snapped instantly.
The air shifted.
Heavy.
Explosive.
Jack stepped forward.
"She was mine long before he ever met you."
"You don't own her," Molly said through clenched teeth.
"I protected her."
"You trapped her."
He moved faster than either of them expected.
His hand caught Molly's collar and yanked her upward from the floor despite her bound wrists.
Sarah struggled against her restraints.
"Stop!"
Jack shoved Molly hard against the wall.
"You think this is a game?" he hissed.
"You think he's coming in guns blazing?"
"He will," Molly fired back. "And when he does—"
The back of Jack's hand struck her again.
Harder this time.
Her head hit the wood paneling with a sickening thud.
Sarah screamed.
Jack grabbed Molly by the throat, not squeezing fully, but enough to cut off her words.
"You don't get to threaten me in my own house."
Sarah's voice broke.
"Jack, listen to yourself."
He turned, eyes wild now.
"You were quiet before she came," he said to Sarah. "You were manageable."
"I was surviving," Sarah said steadily.
His grip tightened slightly on Molly.
"You see what you've done?" he said to her. "You brought chaos."
Molly struggled for air.
"You're the chaos," she forced out hoarsely.
That was it.
Something inside him snapped.
He threw her to the floor violently.
The lantern rocked on the table, shadows jerking wildly across the walls.
"You think I won't end this?" he shouted now.
The drone outside buzzed faintly, making the moment feel even more surreal.
Sarah crawled slightly closer despite her restraints.
"You hurt her, and you lose," she said carefully.
He froze.
"What?"
"You hurt her, and you lose leverage."
His breathing was uneven now.
Rapid.
Erratic.
Molly coughed on the floor, blood at the corner of her lip.
"He needs us alive," Sarah continued, voice measured despite her fear. "You know that."
Jack stared at her.
For a split second—
Rational thought flickered.
Then it hardened again.
"You're both alive because I allow it," he said quietly.
He paced once.
Twice.
Then stopped in front of Molly again.
"Say it," he demanded.
She glared up at him.
"Say you should've stayed away."
She didn't speak.
He crouched down, grabbing her jaw.
"Say it."
Her voice was raw.
"I should've come sooner."
The slap echoed louder than thunder.
Sarah screamed again.
Jack stood abruptly and turned away, running both hands through his hair.
The drone feed on the tablet chimed.
Motion alert.
He spun toward it instantly.
Heart racing.
He scanned the thermal view.
Nothing.
False trigger.
Wind in the trees.
But the adrenaline didn't fade.
He walked to the window, staring into the darkness.
"You think he's out there right now?" he muttered.
Neither girl answered.
"He is," Molly said finally.
Quiet.
Defiant.
Jack's shoulders tensed.
"You love him?" he asked suddenly.
The question felt almost detached.
Molly didn't hesitate.
"Yes."
It wasn't planned.
It wasn't strategic.
It was instinct.
Jack laughed — but it wasn't humor.
"It's amazing what fear makes people say."
"I'm not afraid of you," she whispered.
He turned slowly.
"You should be."
He stepped toward her again—
But Sarah shifted deliberately in his line of sight.
"Hit me instead," she said.
He paused.
"You want that?"
"No."
"But I won't let you break her."
The storm from days before had passed.
But something else had taken its place.
The cabin felt smaller.
Hotter.
Air thinner.
Jack stared at both of them.
Breathing hard.
Then slowly—
Very slowly—
He stepped back.
He picked up the tape roll again.
Pressed it over Molly's mouth once more.
"You talk too much," he said.
He moved to the tablet again.
Checked the perimeter feed.
Watched.
Waited.
And under the flicker of lantern light—
He realized something terrifying.
He wasn't just angry.
He was losing control.
Across the lake, Brian stood at the ridge with binoculars.
He couldn't see inside.
But he felt it.
Something had shifted.
"Movement spike on drone feed," tech whispered nearby.
"From him?" Brian asked.
"Yes."
Brian's jaw tightened.
"He's escalating."
The Chief nodded slowly.
"Then we accelerate."
The siege was nearing its breaking point.
And when it broke—
It wouldn't be clean.